


Gospel for the Vagabonds

by FandomAfterDark (FandomLastsForever)



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe- Hell Girl AU, Bittersweet Ending, Body Horror, Cinder Fall as Hell Girl, Domestic Violence, Found Family, Going to Hell, Horror, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Recovery, Threats of Violence, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-11-12 18:19:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11167434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FandomLastsForever/pseuds/FandomAfterDark
Summary: "Your name?""Mercury Black.""You despise your father?""After what he did? That bastard doesn't deserve to live.""Your wish?""I want you to banish him to Hell.""Your grievance shall be avenged."





	Gospel for the Vagabonds

**Author's Note:**

> This is the R-Rated version. For the PG-13 rated version, please go to FandomLastsForever.

The sun moving slowly through the sky as the afternoon classes let out for the day. Students hurried to their cars in order to head home, to work, to practice. No matter what the reason, students found their way out of Beacon University's campus in a timely manner.

But not him.

There in the library he sat, going through his notes on the next history exam for Dr. Oobleck's class. His silver hair was tussled about in permanent bed head fashion, and his dark grey eyes were sunken from exhaustion. If it weren't for the fact that other students were just like him in that regard, one might think he was overworking himself.

He was, but that wasn't the point.

The point was he was working hard to finish his schoolwork. That was all that mattered.

"Hey bozo. Want some coffee?"

Looking up from the packet he was highlighting, Mercury's gaze fell upon the garnet stare of his crush from across the table, mint green hair shining in the light. It was all he could do not to blush.

"Emerald?"

"He's awake!" she cheered, only to get a harsh _"Hush!"_ from the librarian. "Sorry."

"What're you doing here?" Mercury asked. "I thought you had a meeting with the theater club."

"Pr. Peach had a substitute today," she sighed. "So the meeting got cancelled. And since I have nothing else to do aside from English homework, I thought I'd swing by and see if you wanted coffee."

"Why me?"

"Because you look like you need it?" She glanced down at the notes he had been taken. "That's wrong, by the way. The fall of Mountain Glenn during The Great War was in 1532, not 1527."

"Huh?" Mercury glanced down at his notes, letting out a groan when he saw she was correct. "Dammit."

"How about a trade?" she offered. "I'll help you study for Oobleck if you help me with my English homework for Branwen."

Mercury opened his mouth to decline, but faltered when Emerald began to pout. _God how could he say no to that face?_

"Sure," he relented. "Why not?"

"Great!"

**_"HUSH!"_ **

"Sorry," she giggled. "Come on. My car's out front already."

"Okay, okay. I'm coming."

Quickly packing his messenger bag, Mercury followed Emerald out of the library and out to the parking lot, trying not to let the pain in his legs be well known.

Emerald was a bit to perceptive though.

"You okay?" she asked.

"New prosthetics," he sighed. "They're taking some getting used to."

"I've got pain killers in the glove box." A gentle smirk made its way on her face. "And a pass for the handicap spot if you need it."

"How-"

"I drive Fox to and from places sometimes. He gave me a spare just in case." She stuck out her tongue playfully. "That a problem?"

"No," he said, smiling. "Thanks Em."

"Ooh, nicknames already?" she teased.

"I-I didn't-"

"It's fine," she laughed. "I'll just call you Merc then. Cool?"

Warmth flooded his chest at the name, and Mercury let out a soft, throaty chuckle at the name. "Sure. Totally cool."

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The two of them stood across the street, watching as the young adults had their coffee and studied. It was a peaceful scene. On the outside looking in, you'd almost think the two of them were normal college students.

But they knew better.

_Oh, did they know better._

"Are you sure that boy is the one logging in at night, Watts?" Tyrian sighed, tugging on his braid. "He seems like a model student."

"Don't be so hasty to write him off," chided Watts. "I traced the IP back to his laptop on both his home network and the school. It's him."

"Well then, what should we do?"

"For now we observe. That's what we're meant for, after all."

"Observing is so boring though! Surely we can pester them a little?"

**_"Callows."_ **

"Fine, fine. I'll leave them be." He pulled out his phone, quickly snapping a picture with a slight giggle. "Though you don't mind if I snap a photo or two of Hazel in that stupid barista hat, do you?"

Watt's moustache twitched slightly in an attempt to prevent laughter. "Send me copies."

"Can do," Tyrian promised.

 

o0()0o

 

Sipping on his macchiato, Mercury listened closely as Emerald went over the dates and her little tricks to remembering them. Some had rhymes, others she matched with dates in her personal life, and there were even some people could guess correctly based on process of elimination. He wasn't just hearing the material now, but comprehending it. Remembering it. She made it seem so easy.

She was amazing.

"There you go," Emerald said. "Now you'll remember all the dates with no trouble."

"Thanks Em," Mercury chuckled.

"No problem." She took a sip of her mocha, checking her watch and smiling. "Looks like that didn't take nearly as long as we thought. Only an hour."

"What time is it?" Mercury asked.

"Ten past six."

"What?!" Mercury quickly began stuffing everything into his bag, silently cursing himself for losing track of time. "Can you take me to the old junkyard?"

"Sure," Emerald agreed. "What's up?"

"Late for work. They'll kill me if I don't get there in time and- shit!" He hurried to clean up his now spilled beverage. It only just covered the corners of his notebook.

"Relax, Merc," Emerald said. "I'll get you where you need to go. Just chill."

"Right. Chill. I can do that."

Mercury took a deep breath and followed her lead, collecting his belongings and following her back out to the car. It was a short drive out to the junkyard, and the conversation was mostly made of directions. But regardless of that, Mercury felt at peace for the entire ride.

"You want me to pick you up tomorrow?" Emerald asked as they pulled in. "For school?"

"Uh, no," Mercury stammered. "I'll be fine. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Alright, see you."

Mercury hopped out of the car and waved goodbye before hurrying inside the main office to clock in. "Sorry I'm late, I-"

The boss didn't let him finish.

Mercury was sent home unemployed.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The sun was setting softly in the sky as amber eyes gazed out over the horizon in the house across the street. There were shouts, screams, the sound of glass breaking and pans crashing to the floor from the little house before her. And as she listened to the sounds of torment, she combed her fingers through her black locks.

The boy was always close to calling her. So close, but never quite strong enough too.

 _"Cinder,"_ called a voice. _"Are you sure you should be watching him?"_

"Yes," she whispered. "He...intrigues me. I want to see what pushes him to the point of needing me."

 _"Very well,"_ said the voice. _"Just be careful not to get too close."_

"Of course, Salem."

The room felt cozier now, and the heavy feeling of footsteps approaching alerted her immediately of who it was.

"Hazel. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Tyrian won't stop mocking me about that hat," he sighed. "I came to ask if I could make him be the barista next time."

"Next time we might not end up in a coffee shop," she laughed. "I'll let you pick the job assignments next time though. How's that?"

"Perfect."

 

o0()0o

 

**_"Don't you run away from me boy!"_ **

He didn't have time to think. He didn't have time to fear. He only had seconds before the chase would begin. The silver haired lad ran up the steps faster than his metallic legs could carry him,  praying he could hurry and escape.

**_"Mercury!"_ **

Mercury ignored his father's drunken screams and locked his bedroom door. He ran to the closet and grabbed his favorite leather jacket, his tool kit, and his duffel bag. He had known he'd have to  
run eventually. He knew he couldn't stay. He quietly thanked himself for preparing an escape.

**_"Open this damn door right now!"_ **

Mercury tried not to freeze in fear from his father's attempts to open the door. His dark grey eyes darted to the window, wide open and only inches from the large oak tree in the back yard. He tossed his toolkit into the duffel bag, before tossing said bag into the tree, letting out a sigh when it landed perfectly on the branch.

**_"WHEN I OPEN THIS DOOR I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!"_ **

"Not today old man," Mercury breathed. He ran over to the dresser and shoved it right up against the door. "Not today."

Mercury ran to the window and climbed out, trying very hard not to slip from the tree. He grabbed his bag, climbed down, and bolted out the back gate into the world of night.

And he ran.

Marcus was probably going to keep banging on his bedroom door until he passed out, either from exhaustion or from the multitude of ciders he had chugged before coming home, Mercury didn't know.

And to be frank, he didn't care. About his father, about his future, nothing. All Mercury was focused on at that moment was running.

_Up main street. Down 5th. Take a left. Now a right. Up the road. Head to downtown._

He repeated the directions in his head rapidly, not bothering to glance over his shoulder out of the gnawing sensation that if he did, the devil would be there. He had to keep running. He had to. He-

_"Hey Merc!"_

He stopped at the end of the ally, panting heavily as the pain started to settle into his bones. He had come to a dead end.

Though it wasn't a bad place to be.

Behind him was a girl with short mint green hair and red eyes that he was glad to see. He slowly turned around, letting his shoulders droop in relaxation.

"Emerald," he greeted. "Fancy seeing you here."

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "I thought you were working."

"I was," he mumbled. "They fired me for being late."

"I'm so sorry."

"It's fine. I'm glad to be out of there."

Emerald's eyes fell to the duffle bag as she approached him, but she didn't mention it. "So where are you going now?"

That was a good question. Where was he going? Would he be able to get a room at a motel for the night? He could sneak back to the school, stay in the locker rooms maybe if he could get past security.

 _Damn,_ he thought, _why didn't I plan on that?_

"I don't know," Mercury admitted. "I don't know where I'm going."

"Want to come back to my place?" she offered. "I live in the apartments above The Three Bears. You can stay in the guest room."

The Three Bears? The old night club? "Um. Sure? I guess that sounds okay."

"Come on. It's this way."

Emerald took his free hand in hers and lead him back toward the street and down a few blocks until they came up to a brightly lit building with neon signs flickering in the dark corner of the city.

Emerald walked up to one of the bouncers and whispered something into his ear that Mercury couldn't quite make out. And frankly, he didn't care. Having men in black suits staring at him from behind sunglasses was one of the more pressing issues on his mind.

"This way," Emerald said. "You'll be safe here."

Mercury nodded and followed Emerald to the back room of the club and up a flight of stairs hidden behind a closet. At the top of the stairs was a long hallway painted a soft powder blue, with various numbered doors that hid living quarters behind them. At the very end of the hall to the left was another set of stairs.

"This place has six floors," Emerald explained. "I live on the second in room 201. There's plenty of room in my apartment for you."

"Thanks Em," he mumbled.

"No problem." She took his bag from him when they reached the second floor, nodding to the apartment across from her. "That's Roman's room. He lives there with his daughter Neo. One the third floor is Raven in 310, the fourth floor in room 406 is Tyrian, while 601 on the top floor is Junior's. He lives with his twins, Melanie and Miltia. If you need anything, ask them."

"Okay."

"Oh, and if you want, ask Junior for work. He could always use the help, and he'll pay you for it."

"But I don't-"

"Merc," Emerald sighed, opening the door to her place. "I know there's something troubling you but...I'm not going to push you to tell me. I'm just giving you some tips on how to get by here since you're down on your luck. And if you feel up to telling me later, you can."

"But why?" he asked. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

Emerald never answered. She just gave a shrug and lead him inside, leaving his bag on the sofa in what must have been the living room.

"Over here is the kitchen," she said, pointing to the right. "Help yourself to the snacks, I keep Oreos in the veggie crisper. Bathroom is right next to the master bedroom, across from the guest room. There's a desk in there, and wifi password is written on the fridge. I'm off to bed, but I'll see you in the morning for school, okay?"

And before he could wish her goodnight, Emerald hurried off to the master bedroom, leaving him alone to explore. Mercury's steel eyes traced over the walls, examining the photographs on the wall.

They were a lot of people he didn't recognize, but knew for sure Emerald wasn't blood related to them. One of the photos had Fox and his boyfriend. And his boyfriend's girlfriends. Mercury was always a little jealous at how lovey-dovey they were on campus. There was a bookshelf, a TV, some old DVDs, and the furniture was simple. It felt a lot like the dorms at the school.

The bathroom was blue with white tiles, with a tub big enough to fit three people easily. The kitchen was more or less the same as any other, save for the fancy dishwasher. And the guest room had the bare minimum. A bed, a soft carpet, dark curtains over a window.

It wasn't much, but it already felt like home.

_"WHEN I OPEN THIS DOOR I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!"_

The words rang continuously in his ears as he unpacked and made himself comfortable, changing into his pajamas and preparing to remove his prosthetics so he could sleep. He had to get up early tomorrow, and it was already almost midnight.

Midnight.

_The Hell Correspondence!_

Grabbing his laptop from the bag, Mercury hurried into the kitchen and pulled the wifi password out from under the magnet. He quickly typed in 3mera1d#, and pulled up the search engine.

 _I have to go through with it this time,_ he told himself. _I have to call her._

The clock ticked down as he moved the cursor over the top result, taking a deep breath as he watched and waited.

_Sixty seconds. Fifty. Forty._

He had to do this. He had to.

_Ten, nine, eight..._

This has to end.

 _Three, two, one_.

With a swift click, the screen went black, and a soft red flame appeared in the center of it, flickering briefly before revealing the main page. There was nothing but a submission bar under the words "I shall send your grievance to Hell." Mercury entered his father's name and pressed enter.

And the website vanished.

"What the hell?" he hissed. "Where'd the site go?!"

There had to be a mistake, he thought. There had to be something.

_"Hello there."_

Mercury spun around, eyes wide in panic as he reached for the nearest object to wield as a weapon. He ended up grabbing the salt shaker and throwing it, only for the figures behind him to catch it.

There was a woman in a black and white uniform with a checkered skirt. She had long black hair and fiery amber eyes. The man beside her was tall, with green eyes and a moustache in the shape of an upside down bat.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"You summoned me," the woman cooed. "My name is Cinder Fall."

 _Cinder Fall?_ he thought. _Did it...did it really work?_

"Watts," Cinder said. "Please."

"Yes, ma'am." The man beside her spun on his heels and morphed into a small straw doll maroon in color, with a bright red thread tied around his neck that appeared in Cinder's hands.

"This is for you," she told him. "If you truly seek revenge, just pull that scarlet thread from his neck. Doing so binds you into a contract with me, and I'll ferry the soul of the one who torments you straight into Hell."

"I just have to pull this?" he asked. "And you'll take my dad away?"

"Yes. But think carefully on this. You only get one chance. And once your vengeance has been served, you have to keep your end of the bargain."

"What?" Mercury's eyes darted between her and the doll in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Cinder walked up to him slowly, the tinkling of glass filling the air as she moved. "There's always a price to be paid. Once your grievance is avenged, your soul will also belong to Hell." Her hand gently came to caress his cheek, and her eyes began to glow. "You'll never know the joys of Heaven. Your soul will be left to wander in pain and agony for all eternity...But not until you die, of course."

Intense pain cut through his body as the apartment vanished, replaced with brimstone and flames clawing at his limbs Screams stabbed into his ears as the embers licked flesh. Creatures of blood and bone approached, dragging dismembered limbs and rotting heads in their mouths.

"Stop it!" Mercury whimpered. "Please, stop!"

The noises ceased almost immediately. The pain was gone. The fires, the beasts, all gone. Mercury was there alone, on his knees with the doll in his hand as a final whisper lingered in his mind.

_"The decision rests with you."_

 

o0()0o

 

 

Mercury woke up very late that morning, in a room that wasn't his, in a home that he didn't recognize. The night before played itself over and over again in Mercury's mind. The fight with his father, the running, meeting with Emerald. It all played over and over in his head.

And the doll on the desk didn't make it any easier to process.

_"The decision rests with you."_

Was it really worth it? he pondered. Is sending my dad to hell really worth me suffering after death?

The war in his mind was interrupted by the sound of his stomach growling.

"Food," he grunted. "Food, then rest."

Mercury stood up slowly from the bed he was given for the night, slipping on a tee-shirt from the bottom of the bag. He changed into it and set to work on putting his prosthetics back on before slipping on a pair of jeans and socks. The silence of the room was soothing.

Though it didn't last long.

_"Hey. I was doin' just fine before I met you-"_

There was music drifting through the hall, coming most likely from the kitchen. Mercury slowly sauntered out of his room in the direction of the music. His head was throbbing with a horrible migraine.

Last night took more of a toll on him than he thought. He made a mental note to ask Emerald for an aspirin.

That's right. Emerald. He was at _Emerald's_ apartment. That's why everything was so different.

 _"Morning, Mercury,"_ came a voice beside him.

Mercury jumped back a bit, only to relax when he saw her in a long night shirt. He tried to say something. Anything at all. But nothing would come out of his mouth. What was wrong with him?

Realizing she wouldn't be getting a response, Emerald shrugged and hurried off to the kitchen to help set the table. Out of impulse, Mercury hurried after her, only to wish he had taken his time.

There stood a man with ginger hair, wearing nothing but orange boxers and a black apron, helping a woman with long black hair and crimson eyes make Belgian waffles while singing to the radio.

Unsure what to do, Mercury ended up just watching the two of them interact. They would get right up into each other's space as they sang the chorus, almost as if they were on the verge of kissing, only to jump back and swing their hips in time to the beat when there was a pause. Emerald was setting cups and silverware on the table, bouncing to the beat and singing in harmony with them.

 _"...From your roommate back in Boulder,_ " the man sang, " _We ain't ever getting older-"_

 _"We ain't ever getting older-"_ sang Emerald.

 _"We ain't ever getting older!"_ sang the unnamed woman.

Roman danced towards the coffee maker, carrying the full pitcher over to its place at the table.

Emerald, having finished with place setting, was sitting in her chair, nodding her head and clapping, while the woman playfully walked back into Roman, back to back, both of them looking at each other over their shoulders as they stepped back towards the stack of waffles.

"What is going on?" Mercury inquired. He was glad the song had finally finished. He wasn't sure how much longer he would watch the...performance of his hosts cooking in their skivvies.

The woman turned her gaze on him, her eyes half-hooded and gentle, flashing him a smile.

"Emmy," the woman crooned, "you didn't tell me that we had another guest."

"Sorry Raven," Emerald apologized. "I thought he'd sleep the day away."

 _Raven,_ Mercury thought. _The tenant of room 310._ "I'm Mercury. Nice to meet you?"

"Raven," the woman greeted. "The walking pumpkin over there is Roman."

"Pleasure," Roman chuckled. "You a friend of Em's?"

"Yeah," Mercury mumbled. "From school."

"Well, welcome to Three Bear's apartments! Glad to have you."

"Thanks."

"Eat up," Raven said. "I'm dropping you and Em off at school since I need the car today."

Taken aback by all the interactions, Mercury took a seat beside Emerald, watching as Roman served them breakfast, remaining silent and only offering nods and shrugs when addressed. As it turns out, taking turns having breakfast at each other's homes was a normal thing in this complex. Raven was kind of like the superintendent, and Roman was very close with Junior. Everyone was a really weird little family here.

And he had to admit, it felt nice.

The morning flew by fast, and soon Mercury was scrambling to get his school supplies together and hurry out the door. He'd have to come back after here classes were over.

"Merc!" Emerald called. "Hurry up!"

"Coming!" he replied. His gaze lingered on the doll on the desk for a moment before he reached over and stuffed it into his bag.

_Time for class._

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Tyrian stood outside the house, pulling his coat close to himself as the wind blew gently through the trees. Autumn was never his favorite season for this reason. But it was still far better than wintertime.

Closing his eyes, he focused on the inside, allowing an eye to appear in place of the face of an old grandfather clock in the living room. A man with white hair in a red tank top lay on his stomach on the sofa, surrounded by garbage, empty bottles of ale, and broken dishware. The smell of bile caused his vision to blur.

"Dammit," he grumbled. "Why do I always have eye-spy duty?"

_"Consider this round as payback for the coffee shop."_

Tyrian opened his eyes and glared at the woman standing beside him in the long black coat. "Hazel talked to you, didn't he?"

"Perhaps," Cinder tittered. "He'll be assigning locations for the next client." Cinder's eyes drifted from Tyrian to the house, brow raised in intrigue. "What's Marcus' condition?"

"Drunk as a jock on spring break," Tyrian cackled. "And then some. He'll be out until tonight. Don't think that he'll take to kindly to his kid not coming back. He'll come looking."

"You're sure?"

"Yep. He's most definitely the type."

"I see..."

Tyrian watched as she turned away, rolling his eyes at the sound of her heels as he returned to his watch.

_I give it three days before he caves and pulls the string._

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

It was almost a month when Mercury looked at the doll again. In that time, Marcus had come calling on the school looking for him a few times. The professors managed to get him banned from the grounds.

Junior was a lot nicer than Mercury had expected. He gave him a job at the club a janitor, and even offered him a suit on the fifth floor. Roman had gone and bought him a new wardrobe to replace most of his more tattered garments. Raven had arranged for him to be picked up and dropped off so that Marcus didn't find him. Having your brother teach at a school seemed to help make that arrangement go smoothly.

Emerald didn't know why this was happening, and Mercury wanted to keep it that way. The less she knew about Marcus, the better.

But other than the strange carpool arrangements, things had been going very well. His grades picked up, he was calmer, and he didn't feel like he was walking a tightrope. Breakfast days at Em's were fun, because different people came by to make different meals. Soon Mercury was even learning to make the dishes himself.

Things were looking up.

But in all that time, he couldn't keep his mind off the doll.

 _I can end this,_ he thought. _Right here and now. There's nothing stopping me._

 _No,_ he realized. That was a lie. There was something stopping him.

**_Fear._ **

That vision Cinder had shown him when he got the damned doll scared the shit out of him. Almost as much as his own father did. And the idea of suffering that for all eternity...

"Mercury!" Emerald called. "Mind coming downstairs?!"

"Coming!" He set the doll on the desk and hurried downstairs, unaware of the person appearing in the room as he closed the door.

"How's the gig?" the person cooed.

"Cinder," Watts growled. "We need to either leave or get him to act. I've been stuck like this too long."

"Be patient," she sighed. "He'll pull the string soon enough."

"How do you know?"

"I just do."

 

o0()0o

 

When Mercury arrived downstairs, he was surprised to see everyone gathered around several large tables, talking and sharing pats on the back and warm embraces. Raven was tucked into a corner, chatting with her brother and a man with short blond hair over drinks, while Emerald was skipping over to Neo and the twins. Junior and Roman were setting the table, exchanging kisses when they thought no one was looking.

 _What's going on?_ he wondered. _Why is everyone here?_

_"Hey Mercury!"_

He followed the sound of someone calling to him all the way to Raven's corner, rubbing the back of his neck as he approached. Seeing one of his teachers outside of school was awkward as hell. "Hello Raven. Pr. Branwen-"

"We're outside the classroom," his teacher chuckled. "You can call me Qrow here."

"Qrow. Right."

"This is Taiyang," Raven said, nodding to the blond. "He's my ex."

"Nice to meet you," Taiyang said cheerfully, holding out a hand. "I've heard quite a bit about you from these two."

"You have?"

"Tai works at Signal High," Qrow explains. "His Imzadi is the Headmaster at the University, and his husband works at Atlas Publishing."

"Qrow tells me you're quite the poet," Tai chuckled. "I'd love a chance to read your works."

"Oh," Mercury mumbled. "Sure. If, you know, you really want to."

"Wonderful!"

Mercury stared at him, eyes narrowed in confusion. Taiyang looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. It was the same feeling he'd been getting about Raven for the last few weeks. But what was it?

"Hey punks," came a voice from behind. "Dinner is ready. Everyone to the main table."

 _No,_ he thought. _It can't be._ He slowly turned around and came face to face with lilac eyes and hair that burned like the sun. Her right sleeve was rolled up, revealing a robotic arm painted like a bee.

"Yang?"

"Sup Merc?" she laughed. "Didn't know you knew Uncle Hei."

"Wait," he looked between Raven and Yang, realization dawning on his face. "You're related!"

"Ding, ding!" Raven snickered. "We have a winner. Yang's my kid, and Tai's the father."

"Guilty," Tai laughed.

"This is weird," Mercury sighed.

"You're telling me," Yang groaned. "Come on. Dinner."

With heavy steps, they all made their way over to the table. Raven took a seat by Roman, while Taiyang sat across from them, with Yang on his left and Qrow to the right with another girl between the two. If he remembered right, that was Yang's sister Ruby. Junior sat at the head of the table, while the other end was occupied by a man with a long braid akin to a scorpion tail. The twins sat across from Emerald, leaving Mercury to take the seat to her left. There were other people around the table he didn't recognize, like a girl with ginger hair and a pink bow, and a boy with a pink eyes sitting next to a man with bright blue hair.

But somehow, he didn't mind.

"Welcome everyone," Junior huffed. "Been awhile since most of us got together like this But since we have a new tenant, I thought it'd be nice to bring everyone together again and see how everyone's been these last two months. So if anyone wants to start us off-"

"Me!" Yang interjected, standing up and straightening her jacket. "Hey everyone, I'm Yang. And it's been two months since I beat up a motherfucker."

Mercury bit his tongue trying not to snort while half the table erupted into laughter.

 _"And,"_ she added, "I've been working on getting my grades up. Thanks to Em, I've managed to pass my history exam, and once I'm done with physio, I'll be working here at the club as a bouncer. Don't expect the no hit streak to last." She took a seat and smacked Taiyang's shoulder when he went to ruffle her hair.

"Me next, then," Qrow hummed as he stood. "Hey everyone. My name is Qrow, I'm a teacher at Beacon University, and-" he reached into his pocket, pulling out a small purple coin- "I'm now nine months sober."

The laughter eased, and Mercury's smile faded.

"Yep," Qrow groaned as he sat. "I knew that'd be the reaction. But...It's what I've been up to, so..."

Raven stood from her seat, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a copper coin, smiling fondly as she spoke.

"My name is Raven," she introduced. "I'm Qrow's older twin sister, and I've just gone seven months without getting angry and lashing out. Anger management has been hard. Hell, recovery is in general but...we're all getting there."

Everyone went around the table taking turns. The girl with the pink bow was named Penny. She talked about her grades, career path, and how she'd been since being released from the hospital. She didn't say what she had been in for, but Mercury was fine with that. He didn't want to pry into personal business.

The man with pink eyes introduced himself as Ren and talked about how he visited his sister and introduced her to his boyfriend, the guy with blue hair who was called Neptune. Neptune talked about how he finally managed to make it into the four foot depth of the pool at the gym, which garnered applause from everyone. Apparently he had been working with the lifeguards and a therapist for a while to help him with his fear of water.

Roman talked about getting a job at the hair salon he applied for. Melanie and Miltia told everyone about their improvement in algebra, and Melanie translated for Neo as the shorter girl signed about being the teacher's aide at school for the beginning sign-language class. Everyone talked about something they were working on. School, a job, what they were reading or watching that week. A fear, an addiction, physical and mental illness. Anything and everything.

And then it came to him and Emerald. She stood up with a smile, back straight and eyes on the group as if prepared to give an oral report.

"Hey everyone," she greeted. "My name is Emerald, and it has been exactly two years to the day that I stopped being a thief."

_Wait. Emerald was what?_

"It's been a tricky battle, I admit," she giggled, trying to stay cheerful. "Sometimes I still feel the urge to swipe extra food or a wallet out of habit. But Junior, Roman, Raven...everyone here...You've all been such a great help. You've helped me get on my feet, and I'm in a much better place than I ever could have imagined. You're the best family anyone could have asked for. And I can't thank you enough for everything you've given me."

She sat back down, tears pricking at her ruby red eyes.

 _She must have been holding that in a while,_ Mercury thought. _Everyone here must have..._

With a shaky breath, Mercury stood up, clenching his fists as he introduced himself.

"Hello everyone," he greeted shakily. "My name is Mercury."

"Hi Mercury," everyone replied.

"I um....I'm not used to this, uh...talking. Thing. The round robin stuff. I don't know what to share."

"Whatever you're comfortable with," Junior assured. "Nothing here is spoken about outside this dinner table."

"Alright...Well..." He blanked for a moment. He didn't know what to talk about. School wasn't really something he wanted to go over, and he didn't have anything major he was working on.

_But...there was one thing..._

"About a month ago," he began, "I ran away from home. My dad, Marcus...he's an alcoholic. And very controlling. The night I ran away from home, I had been fired from my job for being late. He didn't take it well." He took a deep breath to steady himself. "He...started getting physical. And in a panic, I hit him with a frying pan and locked myself in my room before sneaking out. Em found me and brought me here."

Mercury scanned the room, noticing everyone shifting in their seats. "I just...I wanted to share that with you all because...this past month has been the best time of my life in a long, long time. And you're all the closest I've ever had to a real family and I...I..."

"Merc..."

A pair of arms wrapped around him. Then another. And yet another. Before Mercury had realized he'd began crying, everyone had flown from their seats and had him in the center of a group hug. Mercury buried his face in the shoulder of the nearest person. He didn't know who exactly it was, but they smelled like cotton candy. The body heat was cozy, and the heartbeats around him were music to his ears.

Things were finally going right.

 

o0()0o

 

When Tyrian returned to room 406, he quickly hopped into the shower and scrubbed as hard as he could to get the scent of the people downstairs off of him. As much as he appreciated the heat of all those bodies around him, he didn't particularly appreciate the cologne that one of them had been wearing.

"This is taking too long," he grumbled. "Why the fuck hasn't he pulled the string?"

Something was holding him back.

_But what?_

Getting curious, Tyrian closed his eyes and focused on Emerald's apartment. His eye took over the empty picture frame on the shelf. Just the right place for spying on the two people on the sofa.

Mercury was sitting in rust colored pajamas reading a book about publishing. His grey hair was a bit damp from being in the shower, and there was a tool kit on the table. Emerald soon came out of the bathroom in her usual sleep attire, oversized shirt and shorts. She sat beside him and he put down the book, reaching over for the tools and rolling up the legs of his pants to reveal the prosthetic legs.

"Oh my God," Tyrian groaned. "He's teaching her how to mess with his legs. Surely there's better ways to spend your time."

_"Spying on the client like that? How crass."_

Tyrian nearly slipped from the surprise visitor in the window. "Cinder! What the fuck are you doing?! **_I naked!"_**

"I'm not looking," she teased. "Unlike you."

"I was just checking on the kid!" he spat. "He was all sappy at dinner. I wanted to see if he would pull the string tonight!"

"Not tonight," she cooed. "But soon."

"How do you know?"

"It's just feeling."

With a sigh of discontent, Tyrian turned back to his shower as Cinder vanished.

_This feeling better happen soon._

 

o0()0o

 

"Alright," Emerald groaned. "I think I got it."

"Not bad," Mercury chuckled. "Just ease up on your grip. Tugging too tight pinches the nerves."

"That's what she said."

**_"Em!"_ **

"I'm teasing," she cackled, finishing the last turn of the screwdriver. "There."

"Way to go. Now you know how to put my legs on and take them off."

Mercury rolled down his pants legs as Emerald put the tools back on the table. The two of them curled up together, with Em resting her head on his shoulders as Mercury pulled her into his lap. Neither of them said a word. They just let the silence fill the space between for a few minutes, enjoying having each other close.

"You were pretty brave tonight," Emerald muttered. "Not everyone has the strength to talk about that kind of thing at our little dinner meets on the first day."

"It was nice," he sighed. "Finally being able to talk about it a bit with people...I only ever did it once, and it didn't end well. At all."

"I can imagine." She turned her red eyes up towards him. "Can I ask you something?"

"Hm?"

"Why did you choose to stay in my apartment?"

That was a good question. Junior had offered him a place of his own rent free. He could move in at any time.

But he didn't.

He stayed in 201 with her.

"I...like it here," he admitted. "Being on my own just...it's terrifying. There's a part of me that can't shake the feeling he might come in at any moment. But being with you...I don't get that feeling."

She smiled, placing a kiss to his cheek. "To be honest, I like having you around too."

With burning ears and a racing heart, Mercury finally began to feel at home.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Three more days had gone by, and Watts still sat in Mercury's bag as Emerald drove them to school. Being a doll was such a pain. He was beginning to wonder if this was punishment for laughing at Hazel's stupid hat back at the coffee shop.

 _Perhaps Cinder will retrieve me soon,_ he hoped. _It looks like the boy's father isn't causing him any more trouble-_

There was a sudden shake, and the sound of tires screeching. Windows were breaking and there was the obvious feeling of metal striking metal. Watts was tossed about in the bag as the force sent it falling to the floor in the back.

 ** _"Emerald!"_** came a scream.

Watts let out a mental sigh of relief.

_Perhaps I will be retrieved after all._

 

o0()0o

 

It was almost midnight when she reappeared before him holding the maroon doll. In the panic and confusion, the doll had been left in the bag at the wreck. Mercury was drifting in and out of consciousness as the pain urged him to sleep.

He didn't want to sleep though.

He knew he'd be going back there if he did.

But he relented and allowed the darkness to overtake him as Cinder slipped the doll into his hand.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

_Mercury was home alone in their run down, two story home on the outskirts of Vale. He had just made dinner, a tray of chicken and fries, something super simple. His homework was finished for the night and put away in his duffle bag. Nothing seemed off. At least not at first. But then again, that's just the way things usually went._

_"MERCURY!"_

_He looked towards the front door, his stoic gaze unwavering despite the fear he felt. The white haired drunk he called father wobbled in toward the kitchen. He smelled like whatever bar he crawled to after work, most likely "Barley's" on 8th if Mercury had to guess. His face was pink from the booze, scrunched up from anger, and sagging from age. A ticking time bomb if there ever was one._

_Ah, good old Marcus Black._

_"The fuck you been doing?!" he yelled._

_"Making dinner," Mercury replied, no inflection in his voice._

_"Not that!" Marcus slurred. "The fuck you doing going to school?! Why aren't you workin' at da Junkyard like yer s'posed to be?! Ya know how hard I had te' beg to get yer ass a job there?!"_

_"I was fired."_

_"Fired?!"_

_"And besides," Mercury asserted. "I actually like school, and I want to pursue something better than what you ended up with."_

_"Excuse me?!"_

_Shit. Big mistake._

_"Ya think yer too good fer me eh?!"_

_Marcus grabbed the old oak table and flipped it over, knocking the chicken to the floor and shattering the last of their breakable dishes. Mercury took several steps back, right up until he hit the counter. He tried to apologize, but his dad wouldn't have it._

_Marcus stomped over and with a clenched hand sent a hard right hook straight to Mercury's stomach. Then a left. Then a right again. Mercury gripped the counter with his left hand to keep from falling to the floor._

_"Ya think yer worth a shit?! You think yer gonna make it big?! You'd be nuffin' without me you fuckin' piece of trash! You'd be crawlin' and beggin' fer scraps in a ditch if it weren't fer me!!!"_

_Mercury felt dizzy. He couldn't get a breath. Couldn't talk. Couldn't think. Marcus kept up the punches as Mercury reached toward the sink. He needed something. Anything._

_His hand gripped the handle of a frying pan._

_With as much force and focus as he could muster, Mercury swung it and hit Marcus square in the jaw, knocking out a tooth as his father stumbled back._

_Without a second thought Mercury flew up the stairs and locked his bedroom door behind him._

**_"Don't you run away from me boy!"_ **

_He could hear Marcus hurry up the stairs and start banging on the door. Mostly he ignored it, focusing on getting the last of what he needed together._

**_"Mercury!"_ **

_Tool kit. Leather Jacket. Duffle bag._

**_"Open this damn door right now!"_ **

_Window open. Bag in tree._

**_"WHEN I OPEN THIS DOOR I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!"_ **

_Mercury shoved his dresser against the door, hurried out the window, and ran._

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Mercury sat still in the hospital room, bandages over his left eye and an IV in his arm for the pain. Everything was a blur. People came in and out. Doctors and family alike. But Mercury didn't take notice. He was too busy thinking about the memory of that night that taunted him.

And he kept thinking of the person he shared the room with.

In the bed next to him lay Emerald, still out like a light. She hadn't been injured as much as he had been externally, but she hadn't woken up since the crash.

"Mercury?"

_There was a voice. He knew it, vaguely. It was...who?_

"Mercury, it's me. Taiyang."

_Right. Yang's dad. Raven's ex._

"Hey," Mercury mumbled.

"How're you feeling?" Tai asked cautiously.

"Like shit. But I'm more worried about Em..." He turned his gaze toward Taiyang, wishing he could see on his left. "Is she going to be alright?"

"It looks like it," Taiyang sighed. "But they won't know for sure until she wakes up. They're keeping a close eye on all three of you, so-"

"Wait," Mercury gasped. "Three?"

"The guy in the other car. He's in the other room."

 _Please God,_ he prayed. _Please don't let it be him._

"What's his name?"

"I don't know," Taiyang said. "I can check if-"

"Do it," Mercury begged. "Please."

"Okay. I'll go ask."

Taiyang left the room and Mercury looked back over to Emerald as the panic seeped into his soul. He didn't need to ask Taiyang to check.

He already knew who it was.

"I should have ended this when I had the chance," he whimpered. "I should have pulled the string."

 _Wait,_ he remembered. He searched his bed, finding the doll beneath his pillow with the string still intact.

"You took my legs," he seethed. "You took my childhood. I will not let you take anything more!"

He pulled it without hesitation.

There was a flash of light, a harsh breeze, and when he looked into his hand again, the doll was gone. A low voice echoed in his ears.

**_"Your grievance shall be avenged."_ **

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Everyone gathered together in the meeting hall. The dim candlelight flickered gently, giving the room an otherworldly hue of violet. Tyrian was crouched low in his chair, a long stinger polished to perfection and prepared to pierce. Hazel had his arms crossed and eyes closed, taking deep breaths to help prepare for the task ahead. Watts stretched in his hair, appreciating the soft popping sensation of his back as he finally got used to movement.

"We need to set limits on how long someone can be a doll," he groaned.

"Well if we did that, I'd have to stop being part of the group," Tyrian chuckled. "I'm a doll all the time."

"You know what he means," Hazel grumbled.

"Now, now, boys," Cinder cooed, tip toeing across the room as she beckoned for them to rise. "Salem needs us to bring this one in as soon as possible."

"Thank God," Tyrian cheered. "I don't think I could take one more of those group hugs."

"It'll be nice to stop serving coffee," Hazel agreed.

"So what's the plan for this one?" Watts asked. "How do we make him repent?"

"He won't repent," she told them.

"So then," Tyrian said, licking his lips. "We'll have to make him squirm."

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

When Marcus awoke in the hospital bed, his body ached from head to toe. The hangover was unbearable, and he was sick to his stomach. If he were home, he'd just upchuck right there.

But this wasn't home. This was a hospital.

 _Why am I in a hospital?_ he wondered.

_Wait. I remember now. I saw Mercury and that girl when I was at the red light. I floored it._

Staggering to stand, Marcus left his hospital bed and began to walk around. He had to find Mercury. They had things to talk about.

As he passed by the nurses' station, he saw a list of names on the whiteboard with room numbers. He had been assigned 307, and Mercury was in 201.

Marcus wobbled over to the elevator as he began to notice how empty everything was. There were no other people around on that floor. No nurses, no patients, not even some poor sap that had wandered onto the wrong floor by accident. The entire place was empty.

But he didn't mind. It just made it all the easier to move.

The elevator doors shut behind him as he pressed the button for the second floor.

But the box didn't move. Instead the doors began to open just slightly, and liquid started seeping in through the cracks. The scent of alcohol filled his senses as Marcus felt the panic start to take over.

It was cider.

"The fuck's goin' on?" he stammered. He tried to pry open the doors, but that just made the drink flow in faster. "The fuck is this?!"

The walls around him turned transparent as Marcus tugged at his white hair in frustration. Images of his son, the day he ran away from home. The scene where Marcus had Mercury against the counter and punched him in the stomach over and over.

"What the fuck?!" Marcus screamed. Had someone been spying on the house?

The scenes changed, and it showed Marcus five years ago, picking Mercury up from soccer practice. He'd just had some drinks with the lads back at Barley's. Mercury didn't want to get in the car, but he made him get in. They crashed into a tree not three minutes later.

Scenes played out in randomized order as the cider reached Marcus' waist. He paced back and forth, trying to find a way out.

"The fuck is this?!" he screamed. "Let me out! Let me out of here!"

 _"Why should we?"_ came a voice. The memories vanished, replaced by a man in a doctor's coat with a bushy moustache. "We need to get you down to surgery."

"Surgery?!" Marcus spat. "Why?!"

 _"Because of your legs, you nutter,"_ cackled another person. This time it was a surgeon with a spindly braid and a scorpion's tail.

"What the hell are you?!" Marcus screamed. "And what do you mean my legs?!"

"Look for yourself," said the mustached doctor.

Marcus looked down, his steel grey eyes bloodshot with terror as he saw what they were talking about.

The elevator was no longer filling with cider. Instead, he lay strapped down on a gurney as he was being wheeled off down the hall. His legs were broken, bent leftwards and right, bone poking through the flesh as blood coated the floor.

And the pain...

"For the love of Christ!" he shrieked. "What happened to my legs?!"

"You crashed into a tree," the surgeon cackled as he opened the doors to the operating room. "Turns out drinking and driving is dangerous."

"You should know better," the doctor grumbled. "What kind of example are you setting for your son?"

The gurney rolled into the operating room-

_No. This wasn't an operating room._

This was Barley's. The oak shelves, the barstools, the giant flat screen. It was his favorite pub.

 _"Another cider, Marc?"_ the bartender asked. He was a big, burly gent with dark brown hair and soulless eyes.

"You're not Andersmith!" Marcus bellowed.

"And you're not buying," the bartender groaned. "Why not go be a good dad to your kid and stop bleeding on my floor?"

"Wait...Was this a set up?!" Marcus glared at the three men before him, snarling in anger as he pulled against the straps. "Did Mercury put you up to this?!"

"You seem upset," the surgeon giggled, poking the tip of the stinger against the broken left leg.

"Stop that!" Marcus cried. "That fucking hurts!"

"Not nearly as much as it hurt your son," the bartender growled. "You've done far worse to him."

"That shithead is lucky to have me! If it weren't for me he'd be on the streets!"

"Sounds better than being around you," the doctor scoffed. "What kind of man tries to run his son off the road?"

"When I find him I'm going to kill him!" Marcus screeched. "I'm going to kill him and feed his dead body to the vultures! He'll pay for fucking me over!"

"What a waste of time," the bartender sighed. "Cinder, can we finish this?"

"Who the fuck is that?!"

The bar and the men surrounding him vanished, leaving him alone on the gurney as a woman slowly approached him. She had long hair as dark as the night sky, with eyes of hellfire staring through him.

Her dress was red, detailed in intricate threads of gold as the skirt trailed to the left, with blue feathers accenting the right hip. She wore slippers of glass that chimed like bells with every step.

"Oh pitiful shadow lost in the darkness," she whispered. "Bringing torment and pain to others. Oh damned soul wallowing in your sin."

Marcus felt his blood run cold as a hand brushed his cheek.

**_"Perhaps it is time to die."_ **

And then everything went dark.

 

o0()0o

 

When Marcus awoke he found himself in a room made entirely of stone. Fire burned dimly from beyond a set of prison bars. Before him stood the woman in red.

"Where am I?" he whimpered. "What the fuck is this?"

The woman smirked, snapping her fingers as the men from before joined her.

There were growls coming from behind him.

"This is vengeance," the woman purred. "So we are dragging you to Hell."

Marcus glanced over his shoulder to see the dozens of glowing red eyes peering at him from the shadows. He scrambled to the bars, holding tight as a set of teeth sank into his left leg.

"Help me, please!" he begged. "I don't wanna die!"

"Too late," the scorpion man wheezed. "This service is one way, friend."

**_"Oh God, please! No!"_ **

Marcus lost hold of the bars as the wolves pulled at him. Soon he was dragged to the shadows.

"How vile," Watts hissed. "It's a wonder the boy didn't pull the thread sooner."

"It's kind of sad," Hazel mused. "After everything he's been through, it'll be a sad day when Mercury gets pulled to Hell."

"He won't," Cinder assured them. "I'll make sure of it. For now, we just watch him. And let him live his life." She turned away, flicking her hair over her shoulder. "His grievance has been avenged."

Without waiting for them to inquire more, Cinder waltzed away.

She had to talk to Salem.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**_SIX MONTHS LATER_ **

 

The appointment was tomorrow. Roman had offered to take him along. Technically, they weren't going to do anything at the doctor's office. It was mostly just the paperwork before and other formalities. The stupid stuff they had to take care of before Mercury set a hair in the operating room.

Mercury didn't know where Emerald got the money to pay for the new legs, let alone a new eye. Though he had a suspicion that it wasn't through honest means. If it were, she'd have mentioned her clean streak at the last dinner gathering. He hoped it wasn't though. Emerald didn't deserve that burden. And as the two of them lay in bed together, his arms wrapped around her waist as she was curled into him, he couldn't help but feel like this wouldn't had happened if he had acted sooner.

But regardless of how he felt about that, he was glad Emerald was alive.

 _Never again,_ he vowed. _I'll never hesitate to keep myself safe. To keep them safe._

_I won't let it happen again._

And every day, as he stared at his reflection, the mark on his chest in the shape of pincers would remind him of that promise.

_Never again._

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I have never gone this dark before. This was a challenge for me to write mentally and emotionally.  
> I dug deep. I went to parts of myself that I never wanted to explore, parts I wanted to forget, and parts I never knew were there.  
> I went way out of my comfort zone writing this in an attempt to both capture the overall themes and tones of the AU in question, as well as to try and grow as a writer. 
> 
> This was hard. This was terrifying. 
> 
> But I feel I've grown a bit as a result.
> 
> I don't think I'll be coming back to this AU anytime soon, and I am definitely going to be scaling back a bit on the writing horror-esque stories for a while. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this story. Thank you all for reading.


End file.
